Another Under-23 setback

Development level football is meant to provide a stepping stone from Academy to the first team.

But it struggles to be taken seriously by some clubs.

Hull have postponed an Under-23 fixture against Leeds at short notice because they apparently haven’t got enough players available to take part.

Ooops.

Phil Hay of the Yorkshire Evening Post writes:

“Hull informed the Premier League that a combination of injuries, ‘first team demands’ and an FA Youth Cup tie at Bournemouth tonight left them with insufficient players.”

15:31KEY EVENT

Monk can learn from McCarthy

Mick McCarthy knows all about coming under pressure from discontented fans.

And, as Jonathon Taylor points out, Garry Monk could learn a thing or two about how the blunt Yorkshireman dealt with it.

He writes:

There’s an intriguing comparison between the two men who’ll occupy the Riverside dugouts on Saturday afternoon.

For McCarthy, an upturn in results has silenced his critics - for now.

The opposite can be said of Monk. He came under-fire following last weekend’s galling defeat at Bristol City and has endured his most difficult week on Teesside so far.

Six months after his appointment, serious questions are now being asked. Is he the right man to lead Boro? Is it time for chairman Steve Gibson to act - or risk the ‘P’ word becoming nothing more than a pre-season pipe-dream?

If Monk hopes to draw inspiration from any of his managerial counterparts, look no further than McCarthy. His five-year stint at Portman Road has brought both success and a sense of underachievement, yet he remains at the helm - his legacy intact.

Even with the wolf at his door in some difficult times, McCarthy has remained resilient. He likes to remind supporters of the past, the stinging criticism he’s faced down the years.

Alun Armstrong anecdote

We’ve been talking about former Boro striker Alun Armstrong in the office.

And interview with the 42-year-old Geordie, who played for both Middlesbrough and Ipswich, will be published later today.

In the meantime I’ll recount my Ipswich-related Armstrong anecdote if I may.

In April 2001, Armstrong lined up at the Riverside for Ipswich against Boro, a club that has sold him earlier in the season.

Of course, in typical Boro fashion, Armstrong scored twice in five minutes to earn the Tractor Boys a 2-1 win.

In those days we weren’t allowed to interview the Boro players after the game so, as Eric Paylor’s understudy, one of my jobs was to ‘doorstep’ the players as they left the stadium and headed to their cars.

On that particular day I managed to get Ugo Ehiogu to stop for a chat and, as usual, he was good value for money.

I asked him about Armstrong coming back to haunt Boro are, never one to mince his words, Ehiogu said something along the lines of: “We should never have let him go.”

You can’t fault that kind of honesty, can you?

Alun Armstrong of Ipswich against Middlesbrough

14:25Philip Tallentire

Juninho loves Boro

Working on a podcast interview with Juninho got me thinking about his spell as a Gazette columnist in the summer of 2014.

In this article he spoke of his love for Boro and the club’s supporters.

He wrote:

The match against PSV Eindhoven three years ago was a very special occasion.

It was wonderful to have one last chance to play in front of the Middlesbrough fans at the Riverside Stadium.

It’s always important when the club recognises how important you are to them.

What Middlesbrough did for me is unbelievable and I will always be very grateful. I just want to say thank you to the club for what they did for me.

In Brazil you don’t get much recognition from the clubs – now they have changed a little bit and they are giving some recognition for their ex-players, the old players who enjoyed success with the club. In England they do that.

I think we have to learn from the way they treat ex-players in England.

I felt I could have played better against PSV, I was not in my best physical condition, but once I was involved in the game I enjoyed it.

The relationship between Juninho and Middlesbrough is fantastic, the club will always be in my heart, I will always support the club.

Juninho visited the Riverside back in 2014

Why have they been so good to me? Maybe because they could see my ambition for the club.

From the first time I arrived on Teesside, I trusted the chairman’s project, I wanted to see Middlesbrough become a big club.

I played thinking that, that’s why I think the supporters could see that.

Then even after I left the club I still talked about the club, I still had a feeling for the club. So I think the relationship has been building all those years and they know I love the club.

I could have joined other clubs but Middlesbrough were the ones who made a special effort to talk to me about the project.

Bryan Robson and Keith Lamb came to Brazil, not to convince me to come to Middlesbrough but to show me what they wanted the club to become.

Once I saw that, I trusted in them.

In that period, people said ‘why are you going to Middlesbrough, try Arsenal, try other clubs.’ I said no because I liked the project at Middlesbrough and I liked the people involved in that and that’s why I think the fans felt that from the beginning, that’s why we have the relationship.

If Middlesbrough hadn’t gone down, I would have stayed because I was very happy.

You never know what is going to happen with your future.

Juninho comes to terms with the Teesside weather

If you knew how things would turn out in the future maybe you would change things you have done.

I would certainly change two things.

One was after we got relegated.

Our expectation was to play in Europe, to qualify for Europe and to win some titles and we nearly achieved that at Wembley against Leicester City.

Because Middlesbrough went down, it was difficult for me and it was difficult for the club to keep me.

I had plans to play in the 1998 World Cup, I thought it would be difficult if I played in the Championship to be called up for the national team.

And then we made the transfer to Atletico Madrid and I got injured after two months.

And the other situation was when I came for the third time, I got injured, I hurt my knee and I had five months out.

But we achieved my dream, Middlesbrough qualified for Europe, it was my dream.

Since the beginning of my time with the club it was my dream to play in Europe for Middlesbrough.

Click on the links below to read the rest of this column and others Juninho wrote for the Gazette plus pics from by visit to Brazil:

On this Boro day

December 8, 2001 isn’t a day Boro fans will recall with any fondness.

Steve McClaren’s side were beaten 2-0 at Anfield.

Guardian reporter Dominic Fifield wrote:

Danny Murphy calmly gave Szilard Nemeth the runaround in his own penalty area, spread the play to Gary McAllister and Jan Arne Riise before Patrik Berger’s neat lay-off was smashed emphatically into the bottom right-hand corner by Owen from 25 yards. That was his 99th goal for the club in just 180 appearances and, given Boro’s stodgy forward play, effectively settled this contest. Just in case, Berger made sure with a long-range curler at the end of the first half.

Speaking after the game, Gareth Southgate, who joined Boro earlier that year, said:

Traditionally at Anfield they pass the ball around waiting for one of the opposition to make a mistake. We didn’t make many, but they still scored two unstoppable goals.

The Liverpool players seem to have a belief amongst themselves. You can see it when we meet up on England trips nowadays. Everything is in place here for them to win the league but, though Arsenal and Leeds will also have a major say in things, Liverpool are a bit further ahead in their development. Arsenal have had a lot of changes in personnel and Leeds do not have Liverpool’s experience.

13:15Philip Tallentire

Talk about value for money

Ipswich have scored 10 more goals than Boro.

They’ve also conceded 10 more but, nevertheless, they are the Championship’s second top scorer.

And, when you work out how much they’ve spent on attacking players, that’s remarkable.

Each Boro goal this season has cost 38 times more than each Ipswich goal, as this investigation establishes.

12:51Philip Tallentire

Good luck Cattle & Cane

Teesside band Cattle & Cane will be performing at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton tomorrow evening.

They are all huge Boro fans so will be hoping Garry Monk’s men get a much-needed win.

12:29Philip Tallentire

Good point, well made

Teesside football agent and Middlesbrough fan Craig Honeyman has drawn attention to one of Boro’s elephants in the room. That is: Just where is Adlene Guedioura?

Adlene Guedioura (Image: PA)

It’s a fair point. The French-born Algerian international is clearly not part of Garry Monk’s plans. But should that be the case?

He’s a vastly experienced players who should at lease be challenging for a place in the first team.

12:18Philip Tallentire

Armstrong talks to the Gazette

Dom Shaw caught up with Alun Armstrong this week and the article he’ll be publishing later today promising to be a belter.

The genial Geordie played for Boro and Ipswich and he had plenty to say on both clubs.

In the meantime, Armstrong has been reliving some of his Ipswich glory days with the East Anglian Times.

One special memory was scoring at the iconic San Siro in a UEFA Cup tie against Inter in front of almost 10,000 Town fans in Milan.

He said:

It was unbelievable, it really was.

We were well beaten in the end but then you look at the players they had in Ronaldo, Vieri, Zanetti, Cordoba… there were some players in that team.

We thought we were in with a chance after winning the first leg but then they stepped it up and gave us a bit of a football lesson.

But it was an amazing experience and to get a goal against Toldo again, in the San Siro was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

We couldn’t believe it, there were nearly 10,000 people there behind the goal and that’s why I wanted to take it really. I wanted to score in front of them.

Alun Armstrong in action against Oxford in 1998

12:04Philip Tallentire

This weekend's schedule

Want to know who’s playing whom, then look no further.

12:02Philip Tallentire

Mogga shares the credit

As previous mentioned, Tony Mowbray has been named the EFL League One Manager of the Month.

He won the prize ahead of Scunthorpe United boss Graham Alexander, Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett and Walsall’s Jon Whitney.

Mogga said:

It’s reward for the hard work everyone has put in, but I’m not too big on personal awards.

We’ve had a decent month and the team have worked extremely hard. It’s a reflection on everybody’s excellent work.

I’m just a cog in the machine that wants to get the club back to the league above. We scored a lot of goals, played attacking football and that’s been reflected in the scorelines, but nobody’s getting carried away.

We know we’re not even at Christmas yet and nothing’s won in November. It’s important to keep up that intensity and continue to play with a desire and a passion.

The players have bought into the demanding training sessions and deserve the credit.

Tony Mowbray (Image: Katie Lunn)

11:45Philip Tallentire

Time for Ryan?

After losing three games out of four, he could well ring the changes ahead of tomorrow’s game with Ipswich at the Riverside.

One player hoping to feature will be Ryan Shotton, who’s made just one first team appearance since moving to the club in August.

Middlesbrough's Ryan Shotton warming up at Bolton

With both Dani Ayala and Dael Fry out of sorts, perhaps now’s the time for the former Birmingham defender to stake his claim.

In a feature I published yesterday, I wrote:

Last weekend’s fixture at Bristol City was exactly the kind of match Ryan Shotton was signed for.

Garry Monk was missing Dani Ayala because the Spaniard was serving a suspension and he needed a replacement to partner Ben Gibson.

Dael Fry lost his place after making a couple of errors so, therefore, you’d assume Shotton would be the next cab on the rank.

Turns out he wasn’t. Not only did Fry start alongside Gibson at Ashton Gate, Shotton wasn’t even named as one of the subs.

So it’s fair to ask the following questions: Why wasn’t a £3m summer signing worth a place in the matchday squad when a senior defender was missing?

There can only be three potential answers. The first is he was injured, but that wasn’t the case to the best of our knowledge.

The second is he lacked fitness and the third is he was out of form.

If it’s either of the latter two reasons then that’s a concern.

Having a deep squad is an advantage only if the fringe players are ready to come into the team as and when required.

Bernie's about

If you’re shopping on Teesside over the coming days you may well bump into Bernie Slaven, who’s selling copies of his latest book Boro’s Serial Strikers.

He’s always happy to chat and pose for photos, and he’s tipping Boro to win tomorrow.

11:18KEY EVENT

Is Monk missing Pep?

It’s always interesting to hear what outsiders think about the club you cover as a journalist or support as a fan.

Dominic Shaw has been talking to Leeds Live writer Tom Marshall-Bailey to find out what he thinks is going wrong for Garry Monk at Boro.

Monk with his assistant at Leeds, Pep Clotet (Image: PA)

Of course, Monk was in charge at Elland Road for a season and was relatively successful. Marshall-Bailey makes a valid point about Pep Clotet, who worked with Monk last season but didn’t follow him to Middlesbrough.

He says:

The loss of Pep Clotet, one of his trusted lieutenants, seems to have affected Monk and you get the impression January will be a key transfer window for him if they are to achieve their ambitions this season.

Monk needs to try and find a way of making Boro hard to beat again, something you could not say about them in their recent defeats to Leeds, Derby County and Bristol City.

Those were - admittedly - three tough assignments but a return of zero points from a possible nine should set alarm bells ringing against sides in and around them in the table.

Time the players stood up to be counted

Garry Monk has been in the firing line in recent weeks as a result of his team’s poor form.

But should he players also take responsibility?

Boro's players at Bristol City

Anthony Vickers thinks they should.

In a hard-hitting column published on Gazettelive this morning, Vic writes:

It is time for Middlesbrough’s big name, big ticket players to deliver.

The team have been expensively assembled with one ambition and so far they are woefully off target.

Garry Monk has been hit by a barrage of caustic criticism from public and pundits as results and performances have dipped below the predicted promotion trajectory.

And rightly so. Ultimately the boss carries the can. Boro have gone into a string of big games looking stodgy and flat.

They have been out-fought and out-thought by cut-price teams who have looked better organised and more motivated and that is, to quote the boss, ‘unacceptable.’

It is the manager’s job to ensure those things don’t happen and he can’t escape culpability for that.

It is the manager’s job to consistently turn out a team that is more than the sum of their parts and to make changes from the bench to shape, dictate and influence the game positively. In that regard he has so far failed and he must accept responsibility for that.

But the players must accept responsibility too. Individually and collectively in every permutation of shapes and selections this term they have fallen short all over the pitch.

Good morning Teesside

Well, here we are, just a day to go before what’s looking like a massive game for Middlesbrough boss Garry Monk.

The table doesn’t lie and Boro are 14 points adrift of the automatic promotion places and six shy of sixth.

But, perhaps the most important task facing the Boro players tomorrow is convincing the watching public that Monk’s team have promotion credentials.

And to do that they need to win and win well.

Certainly they need to do better than they did the last time Ipswich were in town. On that occasion in April 2016, Boro were held to a 0-0 draw though, as we all know, they secured promotion come the end of the season.